The Prison Squad
by mephistofee
Summary: Set after Levi loses his squad to the female titan, the Scouting Legion have resorted to drastic measures in their recruiting policy by taking in criminals. Follow the story of the prisoner Nina Wenning, who finds a rival and more in Levi and find out if she and the the convicts will get through the training to join the Scouting Legion. LevixOC (***sexual content in later chapters)
1. Nina Wenning

**This is my first story ever hope at least one other person will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Chapter One is not the most exciting one you will have ever read but keep reading it does become lighter and faster paced :)**

 _The survey corps suffered tremendous losses in the latest battle and Levi's special operation squad was wiped out. Despite them being replaced by members of the former 104th trainee squad the primary fighting force had shrunk down to just a few dozen soldiers. Commander Erwin needs to resort to drastic measures and adopt a new recruitment policy for which he is currently facing enquiry at court._

In the court room general Dallis Zacklay was carefully going through Erwin's reports. His eyebrows furrowed as he took a moment to think, then he stared at the commander under his glasses. "So let me get this straight; not only do you suggest to free imprisoned criminals, assassins, thugs and lunatics who have yet to serve their time or face execution, but you also suggest to put them in the scouting legion?"

Erwin's steady gaze met the general's eyes with poise as the crowd watched him. He stood strong, his chiseled face unblinkingly withstanding the tension in the room. Like a human effigy come to life, his mouth moved as if independent from the rest of his statuesque body, to reply with an effortless, point-blank "Yes, Sir".

After a few moments of silence, the general spoke up, "We all are quite aware of the fact that even currently you have very questionable soldiers amongst your ranks but this", he held up the report" is … madness. You expect me to give you permission to free these criminals and then what? Turn them into Hanji's social experiments?"

"We have looked at other possibilities and the past has shown that even after managing to convince soldiers from the military police and the stationary troops to join us, their lack of courage held us back and caused even more casualties. Once someone gives into the fear they become unable to fight. Even as titan food they are more valuable to us than rotting away in their prison cells.

* * *

She sat in the corner wearing a straitjacket, her long, unbrushed red hair covering her face. As the guard opened the door Lance Corporal Levi and Hanji Zoe entered. "last one for today" Hanji said disappointedly.

"This is Nina Wenning, 24 years old", the prison guard announced and handed the confidential criminal records to the two ." Levi impassively skimmed through the document, his eyes searching for the most important word; "Offenses: Murder, Manslaughter, Assault, Insubordination, Treason. Offense information: Murdered a fellow soldier by severing his torso with her swords. Deliberately fired her grappling hook into a soldiers back for the purpose of maneuvering which ultimately led to his death.

Busy reading the rest of the somewhat less horrifying crimes, Levi's concentration came to a halt as he heared the shrill voice of Commander Hanji excitedly shouting "Hiya, so happy to meet ya "while she reached through the cell for a hand shake, her face wielding the biggest smile the young prisoner had seen in years. The silhouette behind the iron bars slowly started to take shape as the woman's head rose reflecting her gleaming eyes in the dimly lit room.

Levi lifed his head in surprise and directed his attention towards the woman. "Hanji", he said giving her a warning sign to step back from the cell. He lowered the papers and moved closer to get a look at the criminal charged with so many crimes at such a young age.

Blissfully disregarding any possible danger, Hanji looked at Levi and then back at the cell and her eyes opened wide in shock. " Ohhhhhhhh ...how incredibly rude of me. Forgive me", she said as she withdrew her hand "it must be awfully frustrating to wear that thing, we'll get you out of it as soon as we are out of here".

 _"tch, if it was up to this annoying four-eyes the entire prison would be having tea at the survey corps headquarters right now_ ", Levi thought to himelf

"But first I need to ask you some routine questions. I'm Hanji…"

"Zoe, ... " the prisoner finished the sentence and stepped further into the light smiling at the Commander."The lady who would marry titans if she were allowed", she said in a calm fashion smiling all the while "I remember you".

Hanji stoppped, nodded and smiled back at the prisoner.

"and to my right I can sense the unbearably clean aura of Lance Corporal Levi. "To what do I owe the great honour of this visit?"

They hadn't met many prisoners who knew them; the ones that did were in such bad shape that they couldn't even make out coherent sentences. Most of them were drooling apathetically and staring at the walls. With two and a half years, she was relatively new and, considering the circumstances, still in very good shape.

 _They wouldn't try to recruit well known criminals to avoid having the other soldiers rip them apart. So, I guess they're only left with the "small fries",_ Nina thought _._

"figures", she muttered, mustering both of them for a bit before asking "Is the choice mine?"  
"Yes ... well sort of. All of your crimes will be pardoned by royal decree and you will be under our command" Hanji explained.

"Meaning those fat lazy bastards have allowed us to throw you at the titans, instead of leaving you to rot, like the disposable bags of useless meat you are.

"If you are deemed suitable that is" Hanji added, in a ridiculously polite fashion making it sound like she is delivering the news of the titan's defeat.

Nina's hysterical laughter burst through the room. "Suitable. Of course! I'll be a real culinary delight for the titans. Let's give them a bit of a variety, shall we? They must literally be fed up with getting trainee meat all the time; although, you wouldn't really be here if that was the only thing they were feasting on. You idiots must have really fucked up this time, eh?"

Her feet lifted off the ground as she felt herself getting jerked forward with immense speed. Hot streams of blood burst from her mouth and nose as her face smashed into the cold iron. Releasing his grip Levi looked down at Nina who, with her hands restrained, crashed hard onto her knees. His hand reached into his pocket, from where he withdrew a spotless, white handkerchief. With it, he delicately wiped the hand that came in contact with the prisoner.

He focused his eyes on her round, red face, her cheeks still flushing red from her shrill laughter. Her own blood running down her lips. His cold eyes fixed onto hers, completely devoid of any emotion. Her smile slowly faded as she understood she had overstepped her bounds, and the colour drained from her cheeks into a pasty white. She tried to look away, beginning to squirm under his gaze, but every time she looked back, those deep pits stared straight back at her. She could almost feel his eyes tearing into her soul, their cold, unwavering fixation unrelenting in its assault. As she stared deeper, she felt herself unable to move, frozen in the path of his gaze.

"You filthy rat will be the first to serve as bait", Levi whispered looking down with disgust at her dirty blood covered face.

"Sounds like fun, sign me up for it", she said, her lips ripping a crooked smile onto her ghastly face. As she smiled, a thin vein of the sticky red substance slivered from her lips and dripped onto the concrete floor. Her eyes widened in horror as she stared at the crimson liquid like she had never seen it before.

As she giggled at the ever growing glistening pool of blood before her, Levi remembered her words and his mind lapsed into the emotional wreckage that the titan attacks had left. Images of his comrades dying around him cascaded before his eyes, his sight losing focus. Her manic screams and laughter was drowned out by the sounds of soldiers in pain, suffering before their untimely deaths. As he fell deeper into the visions, his focus was broken by Hanji calling in the guards.

When they turned to leave, Levi caught a last glimpse of the prisoner's agonized, shell-shocked face, her eyes magnifying the bottomless pit of darkness, fear and insanity she is slowly falling into.

* * *

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 **If you didn't like it feel free to tell me how you think I could improve. I am always happy about constructive criticism :) 3**


	2. Freedom

**As promised this chapter will have more humor and banter as we meet the OC and get to know her a bit better.**

They came back to get her. She couldn't believe it but there she was with two of Hanji's subordinates on either side of her, being guided out of this god forsaken hellhole. Nina hadn't seen the outside world in almost three years. She could barely remember how she had gotten here in the first place. One moment she was fighting alongside her comrades and the next she was being forcefully dragged into a court room where her life, as she knew it, had ended. She knew that she really was guilty of all those crimes, but even so, it didn't make sense to her; but neither did this – not to her and not to anyone else. The guards watched them as they were making their way out of the dungeon. She could see the hatred burning in their eyes. The way they looked at her reflected how wrong they thought it was that she should get out of this place alive. One of the guards spat at the floor in front of him and glared at her so intensely that she thought he'd be charging down on her any second. As they passed she looked over her shoulder tilted her head, lifted her eyebrows and grinned in his face. The guard swelled up red with anger as his friend pushed him back against the wall to restrain him.

She knew that pretty soon she would die somewhere outside the walls, dissolving in a titan's belly but she was still thankful to be leaving this place. It had seemed like an endless loop. Sometimes she couldn't take the silence and started to talk to herself. When her ears seemed to build a tolerance to her voice she started to talk louder and louder until the guards came in and knocked her out. Nina didn't care, she didn't care if she lived or died, she didn't care what anyone thought. She had lost. And every time she thought she couldn't lose more it felt like the universe, in order to punish her for the atrocity of having been born, threw something else her way. When she was a trainee she never understood why the top brass had such dull looks on their faces, making them seem like they didn't care about anyone or anything. She had offered up her life then and was about to join the Survey Corps. Not because she was a hero – that she never was. She had always been a thorn in everyone's side but somehow she still had managed to make friends. Her friends, who had now turned to dust, had talked her into it. She would have been perfectly content being one of those wall lickers in the stationary troops. It wasn't as glorious as giving yourself for the greater good but what did she care. She wanted to booze and smoke and not give two shits about humanity like the rest of them. But her naivety had turned her into one of those gloomily brooding, soulless asswipes she couldn't stand – and now had turned her into this monster that no one could stand. The irony wasn't lost on her. It was the reason why those asswipes were still alive and kicking. You had to become a monster to defeat the monster.

"Aaaahh isn't the weather beautiful? You are getting a warm greeting it seems." It was Hanji stood at the front gates with her arms stretched out. As her entourage led her towards the gates, a beam of light burst through the large window. The sunrays burnt like acid on Nina's eyes and she crouched back like a rabid dog squinting in pain.

"lovely" Nina hissed.

"Alright, let's go we've got a lot to do. We are going to take you to the Lavelle Castle where all the prisoners are going to be trained. It's a long way from here but don't worry, I'll update you with the latest events and our findings." Her subordinates exchanged uneasy looks as they entered the carriage.

She had fallen asleep almost immediately. When she awoke, Hanji was still talking. Nina couldn't and didn't want to make out any of the words and so Hanji's voice turned into a muffled humming in the back of her head. The sun was slowly disappearing behind a bed of orange mist that lay on the distant mountains. Sounds of birds singing and owls hooting were accompanied by the soft occasional breeze that carried in the fresh smell of flowers and grass. She leaned her head against the wooden frame and closed her eyes. The fading warmth of the last few sunrays cradled her like a babe bundled up in safety and for the first time in what had seemed like eternity, she truly felt free.

That feeling was soon replaced by awe as she saw the castle Hanji mentioned earlier. It looked ancient and derelict but beautiful in its own way. The cart stopped at the gatehouse. An old rusty sign that read "Chateau Lavelle Asylum" hung on the archway.

Nina chuckled "You sick bastards do have a sense of humor after all. Is this some sort of promotion then?".

"Well initially we wanted to use the former headquarters of the Scouting Legion but I'm busy experimenting there".

"Is that where you are keeping that titan boy?"

"So you did listen to me after all. Yes. it's actually not too far away from here. Don't worry, Captain Levi had his squad clean the entire place. Twice."

"Woman, look at me ". She was dirty and smelled. Her matted ginger hair was tangled all over the blood stained straitjacket she was still wearing. "Do I look like I care?"

"You don't, but I know someone who will so let's please hurry inside."

 _[Back inside ]_

"Stop squirming" Hanji snapped, jerking the sturdy straps on the back of the jacket.

"Get off me, you crazy bat", Nina shouted trying to wriggle free.

"I promised I would get you out of it so please just stand still. WHY ARE THESE KNOTS TIED IN THIS PECULIAR WAY?" She pulled harder yet and Nina's chest heaved as she desperately gasped through gritted teeth, but all that happened was a dead squelching in her throat. In comparison to this, the prison guard's rough handling had felt like the soft brush of a feather. Her ribs were creaking and just when she thought that one of them was going to break, the door slammed open.

"What is this damn commotion? What the hell are you two doing?", said Levi as he stepped into the room.

Hanji was sat on top of the prisoner's back pulling hard on the jacket. Nina's face was all red and blue, sweat dripping down her forehead as she was ringing for breath.

"I need to study the way these knots are tied, let me just … "

"If you want to kill her just use a knife" he said and pulled a small dagger out his sheath"

"Thanks", Hanji said and hastily pulled it out of his hand. She slid the knife under the strap and pulled hard towards herself. The material was so sturdy that it didn't give away in the slightest. "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE" she shouted in a shrill voice and tossed it away. "Don't worry, I'll go get my equipment and you'll be out of this in no time." She hastily got out of the room without looking around and Nina was left face-hugging the floor.

She heaved in a choking breath and rolled onto her side "I'll kill her when I get out of this", she snarled through clenched teeth.

He peered down with his usual bitter gaze.

"Idiots never learn. ", he puffed out a sigh and slowly walked towards her.

Nina mentally prepared for yet another painful encounter. She was pulled up like a doll and placed back on the chair that Hanji so kindly offered when they had first entered the room. Hanji's smile flashed before her eyes. "Mad wench", she whispered shuddering.

"Be still and shut up ", she suddenly heard Levi's voice behind her.

He placed his fingers gently on her back and traced them across the straps. He leaned in closer and she was taken with an urge to pull away. She sat tense, stiff like wood and couldn't help but tremble. She wasn't used to the absence of pain when having people this close to her. He moved his hand as if using her back to teach his fingers strange patterns. She felt a gentle tug and something loosened inside the jacket with a clicking sound.

"almost done" his breath felt hot against her skin. The hair on her neck lifted as a strange sensation sent shivers down her spine. It suddenly made her aware of the awful state she was in. She smelled like the bladder of a wet dog and the fact that he hadn't passed out yet from holding his breath, came much as a surprise to her.

His hand found an opening in the thick fabric and even though his touch was very light, the injured rib got pushed down in the process, and made her gasp in pain.

She wanted to curse at him and was imagining how she would kick both their asses once she was out of this and as if he had read her mind he softly spoke.

"Don't move" and put his free hand on her shoulder were her neck started, slightly pushing her against the back of the chair. She looked at the hand pressing against her skin and studied it. His fingernails were clipped to perfection; so clean that she was sure he could have performed surgery bare handed. Everything about him was so neat. His arsehole probably smelled of roses too, she thought to herself and giggled.

"Try anything and you'll be dead on the spot"

"Relax, I'm not THAT stupid"

"Stupid enough to be in this position", he replied

"Stupid enough to be in this position", she imitated him with a ridiculous, high pitched voice and pulled a stupid face behind his back.

With a final, not so gentle twist of Levi's hand, the jacket finally came free, and fell heavy on the floor. Her chest lifted as she took a deep breath. Her breasts were strapped down with bandages, which were a dirty yellow with carmine patches of dried blood.

"Oh no "Hanji said and gave them a disappointed look from the doorway. "No need for these anymore I guess", she hissed breathing heavily, her back hunched from carrying a box full of tools, her sweat ran down in streaks and was soaking her shirt.

"There", Levi said lifting up the jacket and throwing it in front of Hanji's feet "Study it if you want or do us all a favor and wear it.

"And you", he turned to Nina

"Take a bath ", he said and paused a moment to look her up and down. "…or five".

 **Levi's POV**

The ruckus on the training square could be heard from miles away. Wherever Hanji went, chaos followed. She had a speech prepared for the prisoners and thought it was a perfectly normal thing to come bursting into Levi's room at 5 am to rehearse. He took a last sip from his cup and made his way down to the castle grounds.

The sight was not a pretty one. It had seemed like a gathering of bandits on a market square. There were men and women with many scars and few scruples, bellowing, laughing, shoving, brawling, threatening, all under the Military Police's watch. The useless brats they had sent were shitting themselves too much to be maintaining any semblance of order. The prisoners, like a bunch of wild animals governed by their very own laws of natural selection, had organized themselves into two bigger packs. Even so, there seemed to be a small number of outcasts who were stood further away from the assembly, and Levi wasn't in the slightest surprised to see Nina among them, though he almost didn't recognize her. She must have had taken his advice, for her complexion seemed several shades brighter. Her hair was neatly braided to the side, her face wielding a smug expression of amusement as she watched the happenings.

A sigh of relief went through the incompetent Military Police authorities as Commander Erwin's cart arrived. He wasn't alone, a mountain of a man with savage looks followed after him as he disembarked. The ground shook with each of the heavily muscled giant's steps, causing a chill silence to stretch out. Karsten Fromm, a member of the Garrison's intelligence division who was in charge of the Torture and Interrogation Force. All who had faced him, had seen their lives flash before their eyes, thinking they were going to go the way of all flesh. Amongst prisoners he was known as "the Inquisitor". They silently watched him, united with a fear that was struck deep in their hearts.

"Soldiers! Line up and proceed to the front of the drill field!", a military guard shouted.

Commander Erwin stood tall in front of them and spoke up.

"I am the Commander of the Scouting Legion Erwin Smith. The purpose of my speech to you on this day is to inform you about the exact proceedings of your training. But before I do so, I would like to say that all of you who stand here before me have been offered another chance to start a new life and to atone for your past crimes. You are here by your own choice and since you have taken this offer, I ask of you to devote yourselves to a greater purpose and leave behind your criminal past.

As most of you probably know, every mission comes with the loss of many lives. Therefore, we constantly suffer from personnel shortage, which is the exact reason you are here today. Three weeks from now on you will take part in an expedition to the outer lands. Those of you who survive, will become official members of the Scouting Legion and your crimes will be pardoned by royal decree.

Many, if not all of you will be familiar with Karsten Fromm. He will fill the position of drill sergeant for your physical training. Since almost all of you were specifically chosen for your military background, the maneuvering practice should not be too difficult. You will be trained by Captain Levi Ackerman.

As your two supervisors, it will be up to them to decide which steps to take in case of insubordination. If at any time you wish to stop, you will be sent back to serve the rest of your time in prison. Any sort of criminal activity will be added to your sentence in time served and will lead to the permanent exclusion from the training programme.

That is all.

I deeply respect your brave decision and salute all 28 of you.", he said and pressed his fist firmly against his chest and looked into their eyes.

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	3. The Training Square

**This chapter will be a bit action packed and introduce more OC's. Enjoy :)**

"Any familiar faces Levi?" Commander Erwin smiled down at him.

Levi glanced over towards the prisoners who heaved and groaned at ropes as they were dragging the titan training dummies over the hilly terrain.

"Maybe".

There were indeed a few known thugs and thieves. Straight from the underground to prison - and now in training for the Survey Corps - petty fools they were. Not knowing which misfortune was greater, he wondered if he'd be standing where they were now if Erwin hadn't recruited him back then.

"You shouldn't make this a habit"

"You think it's too late for them to change? There is hope for everyone and I'm sure we will find some untapped potential. I know you don't want the responsibility but I can't think of anyone better for the job."

The stinging sensation of denial formed a clot in his throat but Levi knew that he was right. Growing up in the underground, dreaming of gaining citizenship on the surface, he and his two friends had taken a job from a stranger that was going to make their dreams come true. They were to be caught by Erwin in order to infiltrate the Survey Corps and assassinate him. Instead, he found both of his friends ripped apart into pieces by titans on their first expedition. With nothing else left to live for, he decided to follow a man with implacable determination and the unclouded vision of humanity's salvation. Erwin Smith.

"Tch, … whatever", he snorted and turned away.

By the looks of it Erwin was the only one who harboured a positive attitude towards any of this. The hard labour was the cause of much swearing, snarling and grunting amongst the prisoners.

A heavyset lad at the front, strong enough to pull an entire wood armature by himself, led them on. Siegfried Liebermann, a notorious thug back in his day, though well respected and loved by many. He was a mountain of a man, and strong as an ox, but with a soft smile and a tender heart. "Pull, ya fat, lazy bastards", he shouted in a deep roaring voice, getting the odd cheap laugh out of some, and murderous stares from others.

"Ey sweet darling your hand looks heavy, shall I hold it for you?", a scruffy looking short man shouted, mocking a fellow trainee who was struggling with the load. There was laughter again, but the man on the receiving end remained oblivious to the mockery. He was tall and slender with a handsome face, his waist-length silver-blonde hair wavering and glistening in the sun. He stood out with the bizarre magnificence of a diamond on a dung-heap.

"Had a horse with a beautiful mane like yours, a fierce beast but nothing a gentle touch couldn't tame", another beside him spoke and reached out towards the tall man's head just as Levi's grappling-hook shot past him with half an inch distance sending splinters flying as it pierced through a nearby tree. He pulled himself forward effortlessly and landed right behind them. Immediate silence then - no need for violence; "Good," Levi thought. Didn't have to get his hands dirty again. He glanced around to check whether anyone else wanted trouble and caught Nina watching them. Her face was expressionless and she turned away and went back to work as soon as their eyes met. She seemed to be more cooperative than Levi regarded her to be. No doubt there were a lot of people who were against recruiting prisoners charged with felonies but Erwin was vehement about giving her a chance. Her file hadn't even stated how many titan kills she had in the past but if Erwin was going to take a risk with her, it was surely for a good reason.

[Training Square - 3D manoeuvre practice]

All eyes were on the ever emerging silhouette which displayed this unfathomable performance of inhuman agility, quick and yet so graceful as if the wind itself had materialized. While he moved he hadn't sliced a single titan dummy. When he landed Levi saw that he was the same person who got bullied earlier on the square.

"Who is he?" Levi asked the military guard beside him who took notes on his clipboard.

"Vincent Valentin, 27 years old. Former blacksmith and skilled craftsman of 3D manoeuvre gear. He is part of that terroristic group who call themselves freedom fighters. They carried out attacks on the royal government and members of the military police.

"How many did he kill?"

"None", the police guard replied.

"Shame." Levi puffed and walked towards Vincent, leaving the man beside him baffled.

"Oi, what's up with you not using your swords, you think they're there for show?", he called out to him.

"No, Sir", Valentin replied with a straight face.

"Then why are you wasting our time by lapping around the place aimlessly?"

"It's not my fighting style, Captain."

"What's this nonsense you shitty brat, you think the titans will drop dead if you blow them a kiss?".

A wave of laughter swept through the crowd but Valentin seemed deadly serious.

"No Sir, before I was in captivity I was developing a long ranged weapon that suited my fighting style and elevated my kill potential. I would like to confer with Squad Leader Hanji about taking up my old work so I can be put to use as a soldier.

"Hanji isn't here right now. Grab a pair of dusters and clean the castle windows until the next part of the practice session."

The rest of the practice dragged on without any further incidents. Most of them had shown average skill. Levi had high expectations for Nina but at the end of the practice session he couldn't see Erwin's reason for taking on a difficult case like her. She had no grace and kept relentlessly dashing and crashing into the titan dummies as she moved through the terrain, all whilst using up way too much gas. The only thing she excelled at was using her swords, but even then she lacked refinement and dulled her blades with unnecessarily deep cuts, more a lumberjack hacking away at wood than a trained soldier slicing the crucial weak point at the nape.

They next stage was teamwork assessment.

"You will be split into groups of four. There are three locations and three flags, each of the locations is a hill on which a flag has been mounted. It will be your group's task to take the flag and hold it for as long as possible and to fight titans on your way. Do not take it for a game, for your performance will play a big part in your suitability assessment. It should go without saying that you are not to inflict harm on your fellows and competing soldiers, you are not to take the flags by brute force but with agility and mental acuity. The failure of a trainee to comply with these conditions will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression."

Two large men, one mid 40's and the other late 20's, Nina guessed, possessing completely opposing body shapes, had joined her group. The young thin one was prettier than all the prisoners combined, not that it really meant anything here. His ridiculous good looks and elegance plus the idiotic exchange with Levi had made him the laughing stock within the first day.

"My name is Siegfried but you can all call me Sigi" the boulder beside him replied, warmly smiling at the newly met people as if he had known them for years.

He then turned to the other man "You fly like you were born with the gear, it was a great performance, I've seen people with amazing skills in the underground but you don't see that every day".

Nina stretched out her hand towards Sigi; "Thanks, name's Wenning, 'tis a pleasure".

Sigi chuckled and Valentin looked at her unimpressed.

"Relax. I'm not stealing your thunder it was a joke", she hissed.

"Vincent Valentin", he smiled an unexpected smile, "the pleasure is all mine". Nina couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not.

She turned around looking for the fourth person whose presence they had almost forgotten about. An individual smaller than Nina and probably even smaller than Levi was stood a good distance away from them, Nina reckoned they were late 30's or early 40's. Its gender, though, was harder to deduce. He or she had creamy brown skin, shaved sides, jet black hair with several white strands that showed their age and granite grey eyes that looked at the sky above them oblivious to their surroundings. Nina looked at their chest for hints but even though it was flat , the eyes seemed too feminine to belong to a man.

"Dude, what even are you?", she demanded blatantly.

The person's eyes immediately shot at Nina's with curiosity as if she hadn't realised that there were other people until then.

They opened their mouth to speak a few words in a strange sounding tongue that Nina couldn't understand, then turned around. There were certain regional dialects but Nina couldn't make sense of what she had just heard and the voice didn't give her any leads towards the question she had asked, so she gave up.

"You have 5 minutes to discuss tactics with your team", a guard shouted.

Sigi took charge immediately and instructed them. It was a no-brainer that Valentin, with his excellent manoeuvre skills, should be the one to carry the flag. Nina volunteered to take out anyone who came close to him, Sigi was going to lead the way and make decisions and the stranger, who hadn't said another word, nodded when Sigi asked if they could deal with the titans.

They had agreed to let Vincent go alone, they would have held him back otherwise. They flew after him as well as they could but he had already become a small dot. When they reached a clearing Vincent had already taken a blue flag and shot back.

"Duck", Sigi shouted when he saw a man flying towards Valentin. He immediately shot one hook down and the other 90 degrees off to a tall tree and dodged diagonally.

"Assume Glide formation!" He sounded more like an army veteran than your common thug. Sigi was at the front, Valentin moved after him, now at the same speed as them, worn out from holding the flag. Nina looked out for enemies on the right, nothing, she looked to her left to which the stranger was assigned - nothing.

"Shit". They hadn't noticed that she was gone now it was up to them. She turned when she heard a whizzing sound. A group was approaching quickly.

"Raise attitude". Sigi shot at a very large tree and pulled himself up". The pursuers had closed the gap and were only a few yards back now. Nina shot a hook at both sides and broke immediately leaving her mid-air for a few seconds. The person behind her rammed into her rope at full speed and landed hard on the floor. One shot past her but two more were approaching. She saw Vincent and Sigi take a left turn and moved up and into the trees to the left watching them move towards a titan dummy that appeared out of nowhere. She had to be fast and she would have to use a lot of gas. When Sigi took out his swords to cut the nape the guy from the other team who had escaped Nina was quicker, but it seemed like he wasn't done. He went after Valentin's rope but when he realised that he couldn't catch up turned to Sigi. Nina rammed her shoulder into the guy pushing him aside.

"The other two?", Vincent asked.

Nina looked back and saw a dozen people approaching like bloodhounds. There was another flag holder to their right and the group behind them split into two, though there seemed to be more people coming after them.

Valentin kept going without turning back "Six more, what do we do?" his raised voice.

"Don't worry, just save your breath and follow me", Sigi shouted back.

They made a sharp turn and Nina felt her strength fading, her arms, not used to this much physical activity, felt weak and wanted to give away like jelly. Her hair was taken by the wind of a figure that flew past her and she nearly crashed into a tree. She managed to dodge him but collided with a heavy branch, the pain shooting through every joint in her arm. Now they were surely done for. Three of them were circling them and took turns attacking Vincent and Siegfried. Another was beaming at Vincent with a bloodthirsty boasting. Nina cried out in pain when she attempted to go after them.

It all happened really fast, the stranger who was supposed to flank them from the left of the formation emerged from out of nowhere behind one of the attackers and put her arms around him removing his gear then disappeared with him. They kept dodging the remaining two when a minute later the same happened to the other one, only leaving the small one who still had a murderous expression as he stalked Valentin.

The man was after blood and he withdrew his swords charging towards the front. Nina bit down the pain and screamed using the last of her power to stop him but he was too fast for her. The man turned his blade and used the hilt to ram it into Valentines ankle. They spun mid-air and both of them hit the floor tumbling a few yards before they stopped. Valentin ignored the blood that soaked through his trousers and shoes and immediately gave the flag to Siegfried who had landed beside him, urging him to go on. Siegfried tossed it aside and knelt down checking his wounds. The aggressor reached out for it but Nina was faster this time. She seized it and slammed it into his stomach, planted her foot onto his chest pushing him on the floor.

The thick smell of iron in the air made her blood surge in her ears and raised her hackles. The man before her squinted in pain, his panting sending a sweaty shiver down her back. She growled like an animal through gritted teeth, tried hard to suppress the erratic rage boiling within her, fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white. It was pointless. She blindly lunged at the man with a head-butt that immediately knocked him out, hitting the unconscious man with her fists as she felt getting dragged back by a strong force. She wanted to rip him apart, tear him into pieces and work him into mash. Sigi's strong arms were around her, as she tried to break free, she felt the pain of her finger breaking, but it was but a soft tingling to her. With her left hand she managed to shoot a hook and broke free of his strong grip pulled herself forward and flew headfirst into a tree. Everything went black.

[Erwin's Office]

"And all this time I thought people couldn't get crazier than Hanji. You knew about her condition and you still won't have her confined?", Levi asked.

Erwin's stern expression eased into a crooked smile "it's part of my reasoning bringing her here".

"Not that the rat didn't deserve it but she would have beaten him into a coma if Siegfried hadn't stopped her, was that part of your reasoning too?"

There was a pause before Erwin spoke again.

"No, having someone strong like Siegfried to hold her back was"

"So you'll count on him being there all the time?", Levi demanded.

"No... But you will - plus I know you can dispose of her", Erwin coldly replied.

"With Eren, that's two people I need to ... babysit" Levi crossed his arms, hesitated a bit then broke the silence "I need to know what I'm dealing with."

"Do as you please, it's not like you to ask for my permission" He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I'm not asking for your premission, I might kill her, just letting you know." Without waiting for his response, Levi rushed out of the room and hurried down the dark corridor. The castle felt haunted at night. The walls were covered with grotesque paintings and some of the rooms still had strange devices that looked like they were used for torture. It was an old asylum after all, but he wished they could have atleast gotten rid of the creepy furnishing that was impossible to clean.

He opened the door without bothering to knock. Nina looked up at him, she was topless, her chest strapped back with bandages. He saw something he hadn't noticed before when he had freed her from the straitjacket. Scars and tearings of many magnitudes, different shapes and shades were all-over her arms and shoulders.

"Come with me", he blurted out.

He had expected her to ask questions or disobey, but she did neither and put her clothes on and followed him.

"Can you ride?"

She nodded. He took two horses from the stables and they made their way to the forest. The moon glinted on the edge of Levi's sword hilts. He was fully equipped but hadn't asked Nina to wear her gear. It was a silent journey and Nina didn't know why but it had felt as if it could be her last one. She had the same feeling when she was dragged into the court room waiting for judgement to be bestowed upon her. Hearing that she had beaten someone unconcsious without even having any recollection of it was not a one of a kind experience for her.

They reached a clearing when the night had become the darkest, at a spot that looked like the only one the moonlight could reach through the thick forest. The mesmerising beauty of this place was reminiscent of a scenery from a fairytale, though the situation she was in unfortunately wasn't. Levi helped her off her horse but immediatly pushed her down to the floor. He withdrew his sword and glanced down at her.

Was it truly the last face she would ever see? She didn't know why she was thinking this now but he perfectly blended in with the surroundings. His liquored eyes had a strange melancholic beauty to them, she knew she should have feared her reaper but at this moment he looked truly devine.

She wanted to accept her faith but the loud thumping of her heart proved that she was just as scared of dying as everyone else.

The mist rose when he moved closer. He put his hand on her head and tilted it back. Nina looked directly at the moon now. Don't be such a fucking coward just bare with it soon you'll be truly free and released from this flesh prison, she thought to herself.

"Now" Levi hissed and drew his sword closer. He put his thumb on her forehead and slowly ran it against the sharp edge of his blade. She felt the warm sticky wetness of his blood running down her face.

"Show me what you got."

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger everyone. As always don't forget to follow/favourite/ review 3**


	4. Doombringer

**I am very sorry for not having updated in a long time. I was on vacation and very busy and am generally a very slow writer (partly because English isn't my first language) If anyone is still reading this story please tell me what you think of this chapter. Levi's midnight expedition will get them in a bit of trouble.**

Levi had his bleeding hand on her face holding back her head he saw the light in Nina's eyes fade as she slipped into a trance. First she had seemed blinded by fury, then after what looked like a struggle with her inner demons she fixed her eyes on him, marking him as her prey and he knew that she wouldn't stop until one of them was dead. He had the unfair advantage of wearing 3D gear but he wouldn't use it yet. He wanted to see how strong she really was. Berserk, blood sick uncontrollable beasts knowing only death and destruction - those were the words describing people like her. Levi had learned that she was from an old tribe of hunters from which her blood sickness originated. In the old days those afflicted were revered champions feared by friend and foe alike. In stories that were told like legends the berserkers displayed feats of inhuman strength like lifting trees and barehandedly fighting bears and wolfs whilst unable to feel pain. As time progressed, the fear grew and they were soon hunted and executed. Very few survived and one of them was glaring bloodthirstily into Levi's eyes her face misshaped and twisted with savagery looking every bit as fearsome as a titan. She darted at him, swinging a heavy branch hard and high but Levi dodged away, nimble as the wind.

He waved away from another blow and ducked under the second, each as hard as the other, quick and as deadly as lightening she struck again and again. His breath was quick and he could feel the sweat on his forehead run down in cold streaks as he watched her prowling, tightly gripping the thick branch. Nina sprang forward but Levi was ready, steering the thrust away with the blade he had drawn. He fired a hook and just as he pulled the trigger he felt her jerking at his belt with such force that he was immediately brought onto his knees. He rammed the hilt against her ribs but couldn't shake her off. He had hoped that it didn't have to come to this, that he didn't have to kill her but there was no leeway. He closed his eyes let out a short breath reeled and slashed at her without holding back. When he broke off he saw that she had somehow managed to take a replacement blade and the only thing he had cut was the wire connecting his sword to the rest of his gear.

"Shit! You are one bloody -",he snarled but before he could finish his sentence, she had flown past him, the cold steel of the blade she had stolen cutting through his arm like a hot knife through butter. He didn't let the pain get to him and quickly grabbed her by the hair pushed her down and pressed her face into the mushy ground. It took all of his strength to keep her down and before too long she broke free. The next thing he saw was a fountain of blood streaming out in every possible direction. Nina's blade was stuck in the horses' abdomen. It neighed and with a last dying effort landed a kick on her head sending her rolling down the hill.

* * *

There was a flickering in the corner of her eyes and she awoke to find Levi hunched in front of a sky was dark but it looked like it was not long before dawn. Her sight was blurry and her head felt like it was going to crack open with pain. She was overwhelmed with aches and a feeling of utter disgust as she wished she could simply slip out of her skin. She squinted and could just about make out that Levi was staring at her from the darkness. Just as she opened her mouth Levi raised his hand to stop her.

"Keep it shut", he picked up the flask next to him and threw it at her, hitting her hard in the ribs. She grunted in pain and gave a strangled coughing noise that was half laugh, half growl.

"You're quite the gentleman captain, your mama never told you that you should wake a sleeping beauty with a gentle kiss?", she chuckled and licked her chapped, blood-encrusted lips , her head drunkenly tilting to the side as she smiled at him wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth.

If looks could kill, she thought to herself. "Care to elaborate on our whereabouts or you just gonna sit there try'na bore a hole into me with your eyes?"

"Which part of shut up did you not get?", he retorted.

"The part where it would actually be physically possible for you to make me. No offense but you look like...", she looked him up and down and couldn't quite find the right words. "…absolute horse shit".

Levi gave a long sigh. His arm was sticking out of the sleeve of his torn shirt where a deep cut was showing. He was still holding the sooty dagger which he had cauterized the wound with.

"We are miles away from the Lavelle Castle and have one dead and an injured horse and can't travel back. All thanks you. Happy?"

"wow wow wow now it was your idea to drag me here in middle of the night and do .. whatever it was you had planned. I thought you were going to kill me.

"Yeah. I probably should have".

"Then why the fuck didn't you?" asked Nina.

His eyes traced the necklace around her neck and wandered down to her chest and thoughtfully lingered there for a short while before he continued.

"You almost killed me", he said.

"So somehow in your terms that means I deserve to live?"

"How much do you remember?", he asked genuinely interested.

"What does it matter? What's the plan how are we getting back?". She leaned on her hand to try and get up but cursed like a sailor when the pain of her broken fingers jolted through her arm.

"We get some rest and hope that the horse will take us two hours, if we walk the rest of the way we should be there at nightfall."

"That's oddly specific. You sure know your way around here. Do you often get lost here to do _business?_ ", she spoke the last bit with a silly voice while forming quotation marks in the air.

She slept uneasily and woke several times to see him still sitting in front of the fire seemingly not needing any sleep himself.

"I swear you are some sort of demon. Do you just not sleep?". She felt her stomach twisting then and she remembered that the best medicine against hunger in adversity was sleep. But it was hard to find rest when she knew that Levi was awake.

"I have the voice of an angel you know. You care for a tune?", she gave an acid burp.

She saw him roll his eyes before he turned to her. "Get your things, we are going." She was not sure what qualified as things when the only objects lying around were the pile of leaves and a bit of torn leather she had used as a pillow, a puddle of her own sick, and the flask he had thrown at her. Seemed he wasn't the type that thrived on banter so she let that one go.

It was broad daylight when they started riding back. He must have been some kind of horse whisperer cause Nina could have sworn that exactly after two hours the horse was done for. It was dead silent. Not once did Levi speak. The heat was unbearable and her body felt as heavy as if it were packed with lead rather than flesh when they slowly paced through the flat terrain that seemed to stretch out forever.

Apart from a couple of short breaks they hadn't stopped walking until the sun was starting to set. When they saw a nearby cave Nina dropped on the floor from exhaustion.

"One hour". Those were Levi's first words of the day.

"I don't care if it's 10 minutes until we arrive even Doombringer is exhausted"

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a questioning glance."Doombringer?"

The injured horse who had walked beside them knelt down next to Nina and she stroked it's mane.

"I tell you this horse is a better conversational partner than you.

"Hope it talks less crap than you do".

"Hahaha ... look who's developing a sense of humour. I applaud you Captain." It was the first time she had called him that. It immediately felt awkward and she could tell that it was weird for him too.

When he decided to sit down Nina felt the biting hunger in her stomach.

"Before you sit, could you just do me a favour and bring me a few twigs from that tree?" Somehow had she managed to craft a bow from her shoelace and the twigs. When she actually managed to kill a rabbit with it he had looked at her suprisedly, as if she had just pulled it out of a hat.

Not wanting to trigger another one of her frenzies Levi made sure it was him who picked up the rabbit and skinned it.

"Who taught you how to hunt?", he asked when they had finished eating.

Surprised that he had actually started a conversation, she replied "My dad, but I doubt he would be proud of me. And I'm not saying that because I killed a bunch of guys and ended up in prison ... my hunting skills suck compared to his."

She said the words with such ease that there was no room to believe that she felt the tiniest bit of remorse for her crimes.

"Why did you do it? Sure you have your moments, and a lot of them, but you don't actually strike me dumb enough to do it out of vengeance"

"Well thanks I guess ... why so talkative all of a sudden are you jealous of the relationship me and Doombringer have?", she grinned but Levi could see through her. Her voice had gotten brittle when she made the stupid joke and it was fairly obvious that she did it as a petty effort to hide how uncomfortable she actually felt.

He didn't break the eye contact and she felt like one could vanish in those stoney grey eyes of his. He wasn't wearing a mask, he might have come across stale and emotionless but Nina somehow always felt that she could directly see into his soul when looking into those eyes. She felt that unlike her, he didn't have his true self hidden under layers upon layers - hell she didn't even know who she was, too busy to pretend being someone else each time.

"I don't remember it." Maybe it sounded like an excuse to him but for the first time it felt like someone actually asked without judging her and she gave him the truth. She was haunted by nightmares of that day but she couldn't tell what was real and not. Sometimes those visions would crawl into dreams making memory and dream indistinguishable.

Her stomach gave a loud grumble making her feel ill. She couldn't stop coughing and took a sip from the flask Levi had handed to her but it didn't help. She shifted to the side and her stomach cramped and brought the contents of it into her mouth and then onto the floor. The taste of iron made her dizzy and she half-expect it to be blood but it wasn't.

Blood ... there was a loud buzzing in her ear and all of a sudden a vision of Levi's sliced thumb flashed before her eyes. It was his blood running down her face. The horse kicking out. His mouth forming words but everything was mute.

Trembling, she took Levi's flask and drank hastily from it again. She couldn't tell whether he was interested or worried but it seemed like his expressionless face was less vacant than usual. Nina reached out and waited for him to take it, she watched him grip it but there was no gash to be seen. When she reached out to grab his other hand he immediately pulled away.

"What do you think you are doing?", he hissed.

"Can I see it?"

"And why would you need your hands for that?", he opened his palm and Nina saw the clean cut across his thumb.

"So that's why you brought me here. But why would you ... again, if you knew why didn't you just kill me?"

"So you do remember?", he calmly asked.

Anger and fear came over her. A part of her wanted to tell him but a bigger part wanted to punch him in the face.

"Answer my question", she snarled in a raised tone.

Her vision became blurry, then her mind presented her with an image that had haunted her for so long that she was sure she'd never forget it. Blood splattering everywhere as the cart got smashed by a giant foot obliterating everyone she had cared for in one go.

The fact that he was still so indifferent drove her crazy.

"ANSWER ME", she grabbed him by his cravat and pulled him up.

"Erwin thinks you can be put to good use".

"And having almost killed you proved a point huh, or you think you can just tame me cause you are the great captain Levi"

"Get your hands off of me", he whispered with an almost tangible but steady threat in his voice.

She was only inches away from his face. "I won't be of any use to you or ANYONE else. Stop playing your shitty mind games, you should have killed me there and then. I can't protect anyone from the danger for I AM the danger."

He pulled out the dagger and pressed it under her chin.

She clenched her neck and stared into his eyes and started to push into him her head almost touching his.

"Do it. COME ON."

He withdrew and put it into her hand.

"If you are so keen on dying then why don't you do it yourself" he placed the dagger in her hand.

She looked utterly disappointed and her eyes filled up with tears as she was flooded by emotions that she had suppressed for so long.

"I can't", she said in a faint voice.

When researching her background Levi had come across four names. After she was knocked out he had gone over to kill her but couldn't get himself to do it when he saw the names of her former squad engraved into her necklace.

"Let me guess you promised one of your dead friends and now you have to honour it", he said in a mocking tone. He was never known for showing empathy but for reasons he couldn't tell he was just outright evil then.

"No .. I can't.. I just.. can't do it myself", she barely got out the words through her clenched teeth. Her voice was trembling and without taking her eyes off him she took the dagger from him and decidedly"let me show you."

Before he could stop her she drove the steel into her chest all the while staring at him, a single tear running down her cheek. There was a loud cracking sound and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw crystals forming around her chest as the dagger snapped.

He didn't know what to do or say but then the air suddenly filled with a much louder noise. The ground started to shake and there were familiar sounds of very large footsteps in the distance.

The timing couldn't have been worse. He could see the silhouette of titans approaching in the distance. Titans inside the walls. He had no clue what just happened and now this. Nina's unresponsive state wasn't helping. He put his arms around her, gripped her tight and got on Doombringer.

 **I think I fell in love with Doombringer. I will always remember him as (according to Nina) the horse who has more character than our favourite Captain**

 **Don't forget to follow/ favourite/ review.**


	5. Recovery

**Hi readers (if there are still any :P ) So in this chapter I've set a few things under way for the next chapter which will probably be a lot longer (as will the update time , sorry in advance ) and have a big key event (can't promise though might be the chapter after that)**

The familiar cries of people's horror mixed with the rumbling of the Titan's death and destruction struck like thunder through the bitter cold night. As if the animal had known that their lives depended on it, _Doombringer_ had made haste but collapsed on the outskirts of the castle grounds. Levi had to act fast. Nina who had leaned against his chest was still unresponsive.

"Wenning, snap out of it", he shook her violently. When she didn't respond, he grabbed her head and pulled her head back.

"Snap out of it or die here". She pressed her hand against her chest then looked at her open palm vacantly.

Time was running out and Levi would have no way to get to the castle to replace his gear. He scanned his surroundings and soon enough found the corpse of a fallen soldier. His eyes lingered on the military police crest sewn on his jacket as he stripped the gear off. He equipped it and walked back to Nina who still had a disturbed look on her face.

"Look, there is no time for hard feelings, you either get over it, get your ass moving _Now,_ or you die just like your friends." Even for him it was a harsh thing to say, but he deliberately said it to get her attention. Levi handed her the gear and watched her as she was overwhelmed with emotions that he could not fathom.

She lifted her head, gave him a withering glance before she slapped it out of his hand and pushed him against the tree. He felt her chest pressing against his as she leaned toward him, her hand on his waist and her face so close that he could see the amber lines that streaked across her green iris.

"Son of a bitch", she hissed before butting him in the face. He watched her turn and walk away.

The deep wound on his arm pulsated and he felt his blood surging. He waited for the dizziness to fade before he charged forward following the fainted battle-cries. Even with his wound holding him back, he managed to kill three titans on his way to the castle.

The first one to notice him was a young military guard whose eyes welled when they met Levi's. As more people saw him approaching, he could sense their hope turning into bloodlust. They were all equals now in the presence of death.

But not all were that brave. A prisoner who was so stricken by terror so much that she couldn't move, had gotten cornered by a titan. It reached down to grip her and Levi knew that he was too far away to do anything about it.

With a whizzing sound, a sharp object flew past cutting through the titans Achilles' tendons and bringing it to its knees right beside the shocked victim. Without hesitation Levi flew there as fast as he could and finished it off. He looked around to see the killer, his eyes finding the back of a tall man with ridiculously long hair. Vincent Valentin was already on his way to the next titan.

Flying on the same level as the titan's feet, he shot another metal disk from his fist weapon and put another 15 meter class to the ground. Levi followed up to kill it. The pain in his arm was getting worse and he could feel the dammed up blood soaking through the bandage, but he had to follow Valentin. He turned when he heard a shrill voice coming from behind.

"Come to mama", she shouted as she flung herself on top of the titan and slashed its nape. Hanji's eyes opened in shock when they met Levi's but then she smiled and seemed to completely have forgotten that they were on a battlefield.

Levi's desperate warning shout was drowned out by the sound of a 15 meter class crashing into the castle tower as Hanji disappeared in a cloud of dust. The ground shook and his legs gave in. After several moments the dust cleared and he could see Hanji lying on the floor unconscious. He shot a hook to a nearby rock and pulled himself forward, knowing he didn't have the strength left to break, he let his shoulder bear the brunt. He pressed his fingers against her neck to feel her pulse. A hand clutched at his shoulder.

"Is she … ", Siegfried stared down at him concerned.

Levi shook his head.

"I'll take her. Thanks to Vincent most of the titans are down but everyone is too injured or too dead to finish them off so they just keep coming. The .."

Bang. The titan that had crashed into the tower was regenerating.

"Take her and leave".

"Where?" Siegfried asked.

"See that big ass tree there. Take her on top and bind her ankle to the branch with her jacket".

"But you …"

"Just do it."

Hanji's life was more important, he would gladly give his own to save hers. He wasn't one to give up so easily though. If he was going down he would make sure to take as many of those abominations with him.

* * *

"14 dead, 6 severely injured and 2 missing" The city guard reported. Reinforcements had arrived shortly after the prisoners had overcome the titans. The handful of survivors, fit enough to stand had gathered in the main hall.

"If it wasn't for longmane over there we'd all be dead" One of the prisoners said while pointing at Vincent Valentin. Only days ago he was the laughing stock of the entire squad but everyone seemed to look at him with high regard now. Everyone but one. With Erwin still in the capital and Hanji and Levi injured, Fromm " _The Inquisitor_ " was left in charge.

Fromm turned to Vincent with a questionable expression "That weapon of yours" He paused but his tone was so demanding that Vincent replied without him having to finish the sentence.

"Sir, it's the one I talked to Captain Levi about, as I said it suits my …"

"Do you have permission to use it?" Fromm interrupted.

Vincent frowned but remained silent.

"I asked you a question. I do not enjoy asking twice and when I do I don't usually use words. Do I need to ask twice?"

The remaining prisoners exchanged uneasy looks that clearly showed that they knew exactly what he was talking about. But contrary to what he had just said everyone could agree that Fromm very much enjoyed _asking twice_.

"No" Vincent replied bitterly.

"No .. _**Sir**_ , you would do well to remember how to address your superiors, soldier"

"My name is Valentin … Sir".

A dead silence stretched out. Nina wasn't one to care much about socially adaptable behaviour but even she could tell that Valentin was about to overstep the line and that Fromm was by far the worst person to get on the wrong side of.

"Vincent Valentin" Fromm paused and seemed totally absent as he swiped some dirt off his boots. He looked at Valentin and smiled.

"You will speak when you are spoken to. It seems that you have a few lessons to learn and I believe that pain is the best schoolmaster. You will report to me tomorrow at noon and start your discipline training. I will confiscate your illegally crafted weapon. Consider it an act of kindness that I will not have you suspended and sent back to prison.

"Well I for one don not deem it necessary." Erwin's voice came from the gates.

"Welcome back Commander." Fromm forced himself to say before he sat down.

"Commander" A guard sighed. There has been no word from the troops assigned to search the walls for a breach." The guard said, relieved about the diffused tension.

"There is no breach" Erwin replied his answer gaining baffled looks from everyone.

"I will make a formal announcement but for the moment I need to see the Captain. Valentin would you please come with me"

Nina wasn't sure if he was in trouble or not but it was never easy to tell with these crazy folk. One day you were a murderer, the next day a solider.

"And Wenning, you too please.

"What?" She immediately spouted before she could help herself. "I mean yes Sir, Commander, sir" She stammered hectically, not ever having spoken or been spoken to by the someone of such high military rank. Erwin gave her a faint smile.

"Please wait here I will need to get a few documents. I will be with you shortly."

She glanced around to see if anyone was in earshot.

"You sure have a way to make yourself popular. I have a feeling that Fromm is infatuated with you." She whispered to Vincent.

He raised an eyebrow in response and gave her a crooked smile. "Says the one who went missing with Levi for an entire day."

Nina chuckled. "Oh well, out of those two he's by far the better choice" Well, overlooking the fact that he tried to kill her, Nina thought to herself. "Hell, Imagine having that flesh mountain as your lover."

"I would rather not. Also, I am starting to believe that unjustified torture and mutilation is the only thing he can derive pleasure from"

"Unjustified?" Nina cleared her throat. "You did one hell of a job today, no doubt, but to him we are all the same criminal scum and he will use any excuse to make us feel that.

"Only a fool would believe that there is no distinguishing between murderers and thieves.

Nina scoffed "Fool or not, he is bastard enough to abuse his power all the same. So you better keep that pretty mouth of yours shut until his hard-on for you is gone else you will end up being his bitch"

"I appreciate the advice as eloquently as you put it, but I would rather not play the part of his obsequious lapdog."

"Yeah sure, keep talking like you've got books up your arse - that will get you places around here. I'm not sure if you're brave or dumb. Probably both", Nina replied.

"If you would both please follow me" Erwin demanded in his casual tone. When they arrived at his office Levi was sitting in the corner leaning against a chaise lounge. At butting folk in the face she was a master, as he knew now. There was a deep tear above his brow where she had hit him and a bandage around his shoulder.

"Please take a seat."

"No hard feelings", Nina whispered so quietly that only Levi could hear it as she walked past. She didn't watch for his reaction but had a strong feeling that his face would be as devoid of expression as usual.

"Surely you wonder why you are here. I will make this fast to give us the time to focus on more pressing matters. Vincent Valentin, I was informed that you performed very well with the weapon of your own crafting and had a big part in tonight's defence. Hence I officially give you the permission to use it in warfare against titans. As I understand its main purpose is to disable titans using a disc that cuts deep into their tendons?"

"Yes, commander that is correct. I have of course already thought about the possibility of the disk accidently hitting a fellow soldier but then again since I will be flying low the risk should be minimal."

"The biggest risk is not taking any risks. I also heard that willingly or not you two performed very well as a team. Wenning's superior slicing skills and your disabling technique has proven to be extremely effective when combined. I strongly suggest that you both keep that up. Now as Hanji's report stated, you do need another one of those fist weapons and more ammunition. We will not be able to continue with the training until the injured soldiers are patched up again. Until then I ask you both to travel to the capital with Captain Levi and get the materials needed."

"I am sorry Commander but what's my part in this?" Nina asked without hesitation.

"Valentin would you please excuse us." He glanced at Nina with a puzzled look on his face and left the room.

"You will be under Captain Levi's watch until Hanji has recovered."

When Nina looked at him with an expression that clearly showed she was still not following he added:

"Do have faith in this decision. It will be best for everyone's safety, including your own. I believe you know that there is someone, who displayed the same crystallizing ability as you who is currently captive in the capital as a high profile military hostage. Understandably there is a lot of hate directed towards this person, so for your own protection we have not disclosed this information to the public and will wait for Hanji's recovery and research results before we ultimately decide our further course of action regarding the matter."

"Look I know you had a few bad surprises with the two from the trainee squad turning out to be shifters but I am not a titan. Trust me I wish I was so I could punch the living crap out of them."

"We do not believe that you are a titan but you cannot expect us to ignore the strings attached between your power and the female titan's power. As an act of gratitude towards your contribution tonight we will not keep you locked up, but you should know that Captain Levi has the permission to dispose of you, so do tread carefully."

"Yeah somehow I got that part" She said thinking about the very adventurous midnight tour Levi had taken her on to. It's not like that." She hesitated but as pathetic as it sounded, she had to tell them. "It only happens when I…" She wanted to finish the sentence to say that she could only use the ability when she tried to hurt herself, but felt too stupid and weak to admit it. She wasn't going to be weak with Levi in the room and remained silent.

"You will have time to discuss it with Hanji. I am sure that it will be of interest to her" Erwin said reassuringly and Nina knew that he was downplaying Hanji's extent of interest in the matter by tenfold.

"Will she be alright?" She asked, surprised about the worrying tone her voice had taken.

"She is very tough and I am sure that the news of having more research material will boost her recovery significantly."

"Now that is all. You will leave tomorrow at the earliest convenience. You are dismissed."

She had just closed the door and taken two steps when she heard it open again behind her. She felt someone's hand on her wrist.

"Nina" When she recognized Levi's voice the skin on her wrist started to feel tingly with an ambiguous feeling of dread and excitement that she couldn't quite explain to herself.

She turned around slowly and carefully watched him let go of her, waiting for his cold fury to crush her. Trying to make sense of his facial expression was like being confronted with unreadable pages of a tome written in a secret language. She wanted to find words to curse him, belittle him and use profane language, but when nothing came to mind, she silently stared into his eyes and expected him to do what she couldn't.

"I am sorry", he said ever so gently.

Nina could feel that he meant it through and through. The word sounded so strange to her, as if it was spoken in some language she could not comprehend. He had pushed her to letting her guard down and made him see her weakness. She felt so stupid for letting those emotions come over her. She had stabbed herself in front of him for crying out loud. She wanted to accept his apology and tell him that it was ok. She herself wanted to apologise for butting him in the face and being such a pain in the ass. It was her chance to just let go of her bitterness and for once she wanted to overcome her weaker self and show a shred of decency.

"Whatever" She hissed and walked away.

 **Thanks for all the follows favourites and reviews so far mina 3**


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